TREES: IN THE MEADOW

A TREE IN THE MEADOW

Picture a giant oak tree near a glistening lake on a sunny day.   Then, remember the song from the 1950s: “There’s a tree in the meadow, not very far from a stream…..”    I was a child in Brooklyn when I first heard Margaret Whiting sing that song.  No, there was no lake nearby.  Only the Atlantic ocean near Brighton Beach in Brooklyn.  But what a beautiful song!

COMPASSION

More about RACHMONES…….RACH rhymes with LOCK

RACHMONES is pronounced rock MAW ness. — accent on second syllable

At the heart of Jewish thought is the concept of RACHMONES.  It means compassion.  In Judaism, with the divine attribute of rachmones, all things are possible. All of Judaism’s philosophy is based on rachmones:  that is, ethics, ethos, learning, hierarchy of values, education are filled with rachmones.

A MOTHER’S WOMB

The rabbis say that we should look upon each other with the same love and feeling that a mother feels for the little baby in her womb.  Jewish prophets write about rachmones and note that the Hebrew root rechem, from which rachmones is derived, means “a mother’s womb.”

Sentence:  He is in such a crisis that we should offer him rachmones.

SEXUALITY, GENDER and CARING (cont’d)

PART II  — SEXUALITY,
GENDER and CARING

When Lily McBeth, died in New Jersey in September 2014, there was still the controversy of transgenderhood.   Lily McBeth was born William McBeth.  Although he had a successful life as a husband and father and medical equipment salesman, he yearned to become a woman.  After his divorce and his retirement, he underwent a sex change at age 70 years old.  How courageous to endure surgery of any type at an advanced age.

He became Lily McBeth and tried substitute teacher, a profession he tried for several years before William became Lily McBeth.  But the same school system that rated him outstanding decided to reject him.   Lily McBeth was successful in legally changing her birth certificate to use her female name.  However, it was very difficult for her to gain employment in the teaching field.

A century earlier, in December 1952, the New York Daily News printed a front page story about a man named George Jorgensen who became Christine Jorgensen after a sex change operation in Denmark. Christine Jorgensen was born in the Bronx, New York streets where crime was prevalent.   As George Jorgensen, he was bullied by the boys who the neighborhood because he was a frail, blond and shy little boy.  George was drafted into the US Army in 1945 and, although he was honorably discharged, George was concerned about his so-called “lack of male physical development.”

He flew to Copenhagen Denmark in 1951 to visit his relatives and during this visit, he met Dr. Christian Hamburger who advised him to begin hormone replacement therapy.  On September 24, 1951, the first surgery was performed—it was termed an orchiectomy.  In November 1952, thirteen months after the first procedure, a penectomy was performed at Copenhagen University Hospital.  When George Jorgensen returned to the US, it was official — she was Christine Jorgensen and her first name was dedicated to Dr. Christian Hamburger.

In a letter, Jorgensen proclaimed to her friends: “My second operation, as the previous one, was not such a major work of surgery as it may imply.”

With the help of Dr. Joseph  Angelo, a doctor in New York City, Christine had more surgery in the US .  He was the husband of his classmate  at the Manhattan Medical and Dental Assistant School, Christine Jorgensen eventually obtained a vaginoplasty.

Christine Jorgensen became a spokesperson for transgender issues.   She influenced other transgenders to change their sex on birth certificates and to change their names.

What is sexuality?   What determines sexual identity? A set binary, that is, one can be only female or male, was questionable, especially after 1952 when George became Christine Jorgensen.  Traditional genders used to be considered a permanent designation.  No longer.   The new “psychological sex” designation may not be the  same   as biology, i.e. the biological sex designation.

Christine (aka George) Jorgensen is a part of the American sexual revolution.  Lily McBeth in 2014 died but the controversy over same-sex marriages and transgenders continues.

END

October 20, 2014

Zisa Moglen

THE LAST CHILD WAS A GIRL

THE LAST CHILD WAS A GIRL

Their family loved children.  They were so happy in their everyday lives as they raised their four little boys.  But, oh, how wonderful it would be if they only could add a female– A GIRL CHILD — to their family. They dreamed about having a little girl in the family.  It would complete their happy family.

One day, Suzie told her husband Ben that she was pregnant.  Nine months later, a little girl was added to their family.  From the beginning, they knew that she was so beautiful.  They knew that she would grow up to become a fine human being and an outstanding adult female.  Her name was Pearl.

When she was a baby, I loved playing with Pearl.  She was so cute and she possessed a charming little giggle.  Her smile attracted every family in the neighborhood.

And then, one day, in the wink of an eye, Pearl became an adult.  At age 21 years old and even in her late twenties, Pearl was adored by her brothers, her mother and father.  But, along the way to adulthood, something mysterious happened to Pearl.

I remember the night I visited her. We had dinner and had a terrific talk until the wee hours.  It was very late at night.  In fact, it was too late for me to drive home to my own house across town.

“Why don’t you stay overnight,” Pearl said to me.

“Oh, that sounds fine,” I said.

“Oh, I wanted to tell you that my date will be staying overnight too,” she added.

“It is your home, Pearl,” I responded.  “You can invite whomever you wish.”

As I prepared for sleep, I heard the door open.  I met Pearl’s date.   She was a girl just like Pearl.   Then, I learned the family secret.  The last child, who I thought was a girl, was really quite masculine.  As a gay female,  Pearl liked to date other women.

ON SEXUALTY, GENDER and CARING

ON SEXUALITY, GENDER and CARING

In 1951, George Jorgensen made history in America.  No, his name on the front page of the New York Daily News was not George.  The newspaper printed his name as Christine Jorgensen.

I was a schoolgirl and too young to understand the implications of the first person to have a sex change publicly.  However, I remember how often the name of Christine Jorgensen was in the news.

Born in Bronx, New York, George Jorgensen fought in the military and was a soldier so much like other soldiers.  Except George yearned to become a woman.  In the 1940s and 1950s, that was not a common wish nor was the procedure available in the United States.

And so, George went abroad for the sex change surgery.  It was successful and he returned to the United States as Christine Jorgensen.  She wanted to become a nightclub performer.  As Christine Jorgensen, she was a celebrity in the 1950s.  She lived a colorful life and even attempted to marry but there were legal issues with the marriage certification.

Christine Jorgensen lioved to be sixtyish and died in San Clemente California.  Until Dr. Stanley Bieber, the well-known surgeon who performed sex changes in Trinidad, Colorado, the surgery was not popular in the United States.  Ironically, Dr. Bieber learned his unique surgery from a Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine manual.

THE BEAUTY OF TIME…..QUOTE by Playwright Peter Schaffer

“Everything we do is made of time; the beauty of life is shaped by it.”

He is famous for his work about the life of Mozart.   It was called AMADEUS.  At the World Theatre Festival in Colorado, I met playwright Peter Schaffer in person.   I told him that I loved his work, most especially the aforementioned quote.

RE: SOYLENT GREEN is people

SOYLENT GREEN — 1973 science-fiction movie

SAVE THE TREES!   SAVE THE PEOPLE!

You may whisper the phrase:   “Soylent Green is people.”   The phrase was used in an old 1973 science-fiction movie called: “Soylent Green.”    Based on the 1966 novel “Make Room!  Make Room” by Harry Harrison, the movie shows people living in an overpopulated New York City of more than 40 million people in the year 2022.  (The year 2022 seemed so far away to the moviegoers in 1973).

In this science-fiction movie called SOYLENT GREEN, there is little or no food available to feed the more than 40 million people dwelling in New York City.  With problems such as poverty, overpopulation, endless polluiton and homelessness, what is a person to do?  Daily living is almost unbearable because of the dense humidity which makes breathing very difficult.

Hunger is a major issue.   Food is scarce and distributed in rations…….What do people eat each day?   So many problems and too few solutiions.

Help is on the way.   Thanks to a big corporation called The Soylent Corporation, there is a new type of food.   They have created a new green wafer which is promoted as better than the previous red wafer or yellow wafer.  The Soylent Corporation says that the Soylent Green Wafer will be distributed in rations because the supply is so limited.  The ad states that the wafer contains “high-energy plankton” from the dying oceans of the world.

No, I am not going to give away the plot of the movie.   I hope you can rent the movie because it is a thriller.  Also, SOYLENT GREEN was the final film of famed movie actor, Edward G. Robinson.  The cast also included Charlton Heston, Leigh Taylor-Young and Brock Peters.

Finally, in 1966 when author Harrison wrote the novel, he gave a warning.  Take care of Planet Earth before it is too late to save the planet.

Soylent Green is people…..

POETRY–THE FROST IS NOT YET ON THE PUMPKIN

THE FROST IS NOT YET ON THE PUMPKIN by Zisa Moglen

The frost is not yet on the pumpkin

Although morning greets me more coldly than just yesterday.

And I open the door each morning wearing a warmer sweater.

The frost is not yet on the pumpkin.

Rich velvety red and orange leaves still cling to yonder trees.

Autumn blushes openly.

But when I visit the stores,

There are displays heralding the Christmas season.

Halloween hasn’t arrived yet.

It is mid-October

And I want to appreciate the theatrical glow of a bright jack o’lantern,

The tang of apple cider,

A cold fall dawn,

The ever-earlier darkness

At the end of an autumn day.

Don’t rush me into the Christmas season

Until I enjoy Halloween’s drama.

Don’t cheat me of autumn

And tempt me with Christmas.

What will happen to Thanksgiving?

Give me a moment

To savor the taste of pumpkin pie

And bask in the sunlight of golden aspen leaves.

A gift from Mother Nature.

Let the pumpkin gather frost after all.

Updated October 15, 2014—Published in RUSTLINGS Magazine, Virginia Publication — October 1978

NOTE:

When Zisa Moglen entered a department store in Washington DC in October 1978, she was astonished.  No Halloween decorations and no signs of autumn were evident at Woodward & Lothrups.  Instead, there were Christmas trees and decorations for the Christmas season and a sign:  FOR SALE.   Emboldened by these symbols of Christmas, she drove home.  As she passed falling leaves, pumpkin patches and apple cider for sale along the beautiful Virginia countryside, she thought about the Christmas trees.  How dare the commercial companies and retail stores sell Christmas so early!  The beauty and magnificence of the autumn season — Halloween and Thanksgiving  — were meant to be enjoyed.  Savor the moment!  Zisa Moglen was inspired to write a poem: “The Frost is Not Yet on the Pumpkin.”

TRANSGENDER Lily McBeth “When a HE Became a SHE” by ZISA MOGLEN

TRANSGENDER Lily McBeth  — Died September 21, 2014

“All they wanted to do was put me back in the closet,” said Lily McBeth, who died on September 21, 2014.   It was a historic moment in American history when William McBeth’s court battle to return to the classroom after he became a she.

William McBeth was married for 33 years and with his wife, he raised three children in New Jersey.  As a marketing and sales representative, he worked at the same job for many years.  After he and his wife got a divorce, he decided to achieve his lifelong dream:  HE WANTED TO BECOME A WOMAN.

William McBeth always perceived of himself as a woman.  Yes, he shopped for clothes in the area of the deparment store labelled LADIES CLOTHING.  However, after he purchased the clothes for a woman, he stored them in his closet at home.  He continued to stay a man and travel daily to work in sales and marketing.  William McBeth served in the US Army as a Senior Medical Corpsman.  He loved hunting for ducks and skiing in the mountains. He remained married to his wife and children.

After his retirement from sales, he became a substitute teacher in New Jersey.  William won praise for his teaching performance.  He saved enough money for a sex change.  Then, William R. McBeth became Lily and returned to substitute teaching in New Jersey as Lily McBeth.

Many parents protested Lily’s return to the classroom.  Even conservative columnist Bill O’Reilly wrote a column stating that his child should not be taught by someone who was a transgender person.  Children would not understand this, he argued.

Lily McBeth hired an attorney and filed a lawsuit against the New Jersey school system.  The vote was 4 to 1 to uphold her reinstatement.  Lily McBeth felt so happy that she could return to teaching.  But there were very few calls for Lily McBeth.  Time passed and Lily stopped trying to return to the classroom. She used her free time to go to the New Jersey Bay and do environmental work with saving clams.  She worked at arts and crafts.  And then, at age 80, Lily McBeth died.  She was born as William McBeth and always wanted to write a book with the title:  From HE to SHINING SHE.

How unfortunate that a person who excelled as a teacher and received an excellent performance rating could not teach again.

“I am really the same person, whether I am teaching as a man or as a woman,” said Lily McBeth.  ” All they wanted to do was put me back in the closet.”

OCT 2, 2014–WALKING OUT OF A BAD MOVIE: “MY OLD LADY”

“My Old Lady” starring Maggie Smith and Kevin Kline: a bad movie

Should I stay or should I go?   that is the question.  “The Tree of Life” had excellent reviews and I stayed until the end of the movie.  “The Deer Hunter” won an Academy Award but I left because I could not endure such a violent movie.  “Her” was so trendy but not for me…even sex can be boring in a badly written movie.

Thursday October 3, 2014….an appointment at the dentists where he did an excellent job of filling two large cavities in my mouth.  But it was 1 1/2 hours of discomfort.

Why not go to a movie in the afternoon?  A good movie always cheers me especially after my painful morning bout in the dentist’s chair.  I chose a movie located at KIMBALLS Theatre in the downtown area of Colorado Springs.  It starred Maggie Smith and Kevin Kline and it was called “My Old Lady.”

However, after 45 minutes of watching Keving Kline and Maggie Smith argue over and over again, I wanted to leave the theatre.  Yes, Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” was good theatre despite the arguing between a husband and his wife.  Actress Maggie Smith is the landlady who yells at actor Kevin Kline and he yells back.  That is the essence of the movie.  UGH!

It is true that there is beautiful scenery and Paris is so spectacular.   But why is this really an important movie—–the subject is about an old lady who has lived in a palatial apartment for many years and claims she says she has ownership rights when so-called new owner (Kevin Kline) arrives from America.  Boring!!!!    I left the movie.

TENNESSEE TREES: Red Oak & Chestnt Oak Trees

Cherish the oak trees of Gatlinsburg Tennessee, especially the Red Oak Tree and the Chestnut Oak Trees.  As tourists visit Gatlinsburg Tennessee, they are not afraid of bears this year.

Why?  In the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, acorns from red oaks and chestnut oaks are extremely abundant in 2014.  The bears are so satisfied.  Their tummies are full in preparation for hibernation.   In other words, the bears are eating so many acorns, wild berries and nuts in the Great Smokies that they are not a nuisance to the tourists.  How wonderful for the tourists and the bears.

According to Biologist Bill Stiver, acorns from red oaks and chestnut oaks are so plentiful that wildlife experts expect fewer complaints about the bears in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  The Knoxville News Sentinel, a newspaper published in Knoxville Tennessee, interviewed several wildlife experts including Bill Stiver.